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Research and Publications

Research Interests

A wide variety of physical techniques are being applied to the study of inorganic and bioinorganic compounds, there being a particular emphasis on the characterisation of metal-ligand binding.

  • Structural and spectroscopic studies of heme proteins
  • Ruthenium and osmium chemistry and anti-cancer drugs
  • Fullerene and fulleride chemistry and spectroscopy
  • Cancer diagnosis in tissues and identification of microbes by vibrational spectroscopy

XAS and Resonance Raman Studies of Hemes and Heme Proteins: Resonance Raman and EPR spectroscopic and XAFS studies are being used to probe the active sites of heme proteins, and their small molecule adducts. There is particular interest in how these proteins use the binding of NO or other small molecules in signal processes, the immune system, for vasicodilation, and the role they might have in cardiovascular disease.

Fullerenes and Fullerides - Their Complexes, Conjugates and Derivatives: Research has continued into studies of the spectroscopy and bioinorganic chemistry of fullerene/porphyrin conjugates, including water-soluble species. These conjugates have been shown to be very potent potential anti-cancer drugs, with higher activity than cisplatin against a series of cell lines, including Pt-resistant lines. The spectroscopy, electrochemistry and coordination chemistry of C60 and C70 are being investigated in detail.

Cancer Diagnosis in Tissues and Identification of Microbes by Vibrational Spectroscopy: Microprobe infrared and Raman vibrational spectroscopy was used in conjunction with multivariate analysis to develop new diagnostics for breast cancer, and in particular pre-cancerous lesions. Strong correlations have been obtained for vibrational imaging diagnosis with diagnoses obtained from standard pathology studies and NMR techniques. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques are also being developed to identify pathogenic micro-organisms and to examine their susceptibility to new drugs.

Selected Publications

  • D-term scattering in the resonance Raman spectrum of C60. Gallagher, S. H., Armstrong, R. S.; Lay, P. A.; Reed, C. A.; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1994, 116, 12091-12092.
  • Resonance Raman spectra of C70 in benzene. Gallagher, S. H.; Armstrong, R. S.; Lay, P. A.; Reed, C. A. Chem. Phys. Lett. 1995, 234, 245-248.
  • Resonance Raman scattering from solutions of C60 Gallagher, S. H.; Armstrong, R. S.; Clucas, W. A.; Lay, P. A.; Reed, C. A. J. Phys. Chem. 1997, 101, 2960-2968.
  • Raman excitation profiles of C70 in benzene solutions. Assignment of electronic spectrum in the region of 380-510 nm. Gallagher, S. H.; Armstrong, R. S.; Bolskar, R. D.; Lay, P. A.; Reed, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc, 1997, 119, 4263-4271.
  • The heme environment of recombinant human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. Terentis, A. C.; Thomas, S. R.; Takikawa, O.; Littlejohn, T. K.; Truscott, R. J. W.; Armstrong, R. S.; Yeh, S-R.; Stocker, R. J. Biol. Chem., 2002, 277, 15788-15794.
  • Self-assembly directed by NH-O hydrogen bonding: New layered molecular arrays derived from 4-tert-butylbenzoic acid and aliphatic diamines. Armstrong, R. S.; Atkinson, I. M.; Carter, E. A.; Mahinay, M. S.; Skelton, B. W.; Turner, P.; Wei, G.; White, A. H.; Lindoy, L. F. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2002, 99(8), 4987-4992.
  • Synthesis of the C59N+ carbocation. A monomeric azafullerene isoelectronic to C60. Kim, K-C.; Hauke, F.; Hirsch, A.; Boyd, P. D. W.; Carter, E. A.; Armstrong, R. S.; Lay, P. A.; Reed, C. A. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. Commun., 2003,125, (14), 4024-4025.
  • Molecular mechanism of AHSP-mediated stabilization of -hemoglobin. Feng, L.; Gell, D. A.; Zhou, S.; Gu, L.; Kong, L.; Min Hu, Y. J.; Yan, N.; Rich, A. M.; Armstrong, R. S.; Lay, P. A.; Gow, A.J.; Weiss, M. J., Mackay, J. P.; Shi Y. Cell, 2004, 119, 629-640.
  • Bonding in HNO-myoglobin as characterised by x-ray absorbance and resonance Raman spectroscopies. Immoos, C. E.; Suic, P. J.; Czarnecki, K.; Bocian, D. F.; Levina, A.; Aitken, J. B.; Armstrong, R. S.; Lay, P. A. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. (Communication), 2005, 127, 814-815.
  • Three-dimensional structure determination using multiple-scattering analysis of XAFS: Applications to metalloproteins and coordination chemistry. Levina, A.; Armstrong, R. S.; Lay, P. A. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2005, 249, 141-160.
  • Spectroelectrochemical evidence for communication within a laterally-bridged dimanganese(III) bis-porphyrin. Armstrong, R. S.; Foran, G. J.; Hough, W. A.; D'Alessandro, D. M.; Lay, P. A.; Crossley, M. J. J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. 2006, 4805-4813.